Brine tank system for refrigerator cars



April 30, 1957 J. s. LUNDVALL 2,790,308

BRINE TANK SYSTEM FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed Feb. 2, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 30, 1957 J- S. 'LUNDVALL BRINE TANK SYSTEM FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed Feb. 2, 1955 4 Shets-Sheet 2 April 30, 1957 J. s. LUNDVALL 2,790,308

BRINE TANK SYSTEM FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed Feb. 2, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 i? MJLMW/MM April 30, 1957 J. 5. LUNDVALL 2,790,308

BRINE TANK SYSTEM FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed Feb. 2,' 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 connecting these receptacles. portant .to provide an efiicient system that may be effectively cleaned by rodding or the like with a minimum of ite States a BRINE TANK SYSTEM FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS John S. Lundval], Park Ridge, 11]., assignor to Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, Chicago, 11]., a corpora tion of Illinois Application February 2, 1955, Serial No. 485,734

8 Claims. (Cl. 62-15) This invention relates to a brine tank system for railroad refrigerator cars. .The principal object of the invention is to provide a set of brine tanks which may be --drained and cleaned with facility. The cooling compartllabor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drain valve and header tank assembly which permits rodding .from above or below the railroad car.

The invention lies in the particular arrangement of :the several elements which comprise the brine tank sysrtem. Other novel features and advantages are pointed out with particularity in the appended claims and will be 'best understood from the following description when 'read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in

'which:

Figure l is a vertical transverse sectlon of a refrigerator car, the section being taken through the brine tanks :along the line 1-1 of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken along the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the header tank showing the connections to the brine tank above and the drain tank below and taken along the line 3-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the drain valve taken along the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken along the line 66 of Figure l and broken away to show the access opening of the header tank in cross section;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary end view of the refrigerator car showing the lever arrangement for operating the drain valve from the top of the car; and

Figure 8 is an enlarged view of the valve actuating lever arrangement.

The refrigerator car is of conventional construction and includes a body portion 10 which houses the brine tanks in a refrigerator compartment at one end adjacent to the larger portion of the car which comprises the lading compartment. The car is mounted on trucks indicated by the numeral 12. In the construction illustrated, four brine tanks 20, 22, 24 and 26 extend laterally across one end of the car directly above the trucks and are separated from the lading compartment by the bulk- 2,790,308 Patented Apr. 30, 1957 head 14, as shown in Figure 2. The tanks are supported on frame members 28 bolted to longitudinally extending channels 30 secured to the insulated side walls. of the car. Suitable hatches 32 and 34 are provided in the roof to service the tanks through the top with crushed ice and salt, each hatch serving two tanks.

The brine tanks 20, 22, 24 and 26 each drain into a header tank 40 through flexible tubular connections or hose lengths 35, 36, 37 and 38, which join stubby rigid tubes or nipples 39, 41 extending from the bottom of the brine tank and the top of the header tank, respectively. Leak-tight connections are provided between the hoses and the tube connections over which they slide by means of hose clamps 42 of any suitable construction. The detailed construction of these connections is best illustrated in Figure 3.

The header tank 40 is supported by a pair of L-shaped brackets 44 secured to the top of the tank, as for example, by welding, which are bolted to depending straps 47 welded to a pair of tubes 46 extending between the end of the car and the bulkhead 14. On bracket 44 is located near each end of the brine tank so that it is completely supported from the tubes 46. The tank 40 may be easily dismounted by removing a couple of bolts 45 which hold the brackets 44 to straps 47.

To facilitate rodding the tank 40 from the inside of the car, short tubes 48, which preferably are round, are welded or otherwise secured to the front corners of the tank at each end so that a longitudinal extension having its axis at about 45 with the axis of the tank 40 is provided. The details of this construction are best shown in Figure 6. The extensions project forwardly, as viewed'in Figure l, and may be formed integrally with the tank 4i), if desired. Flexible caps 50, made of rubber, synthetic rubber or flexible synthetic resin composition, cover the ends of the extensions 48 and are compressed in leak-tight relation by means of hose clamps 52.

The header tank 40 connects to a drain valve 60 through an opening 19 in the floor of the car by means of a conduit or flexible hose 56 which is concentric with the hose connection 36 between the brine tank 22 and the header tank. The hose 56 is secured to a nipple 58 projecting downwardly from the bottom of the tank and to the neck 61 of the valve 60 by means of hose clamps 42. Thus, the openings in the brine tank 22, header tank 40 and valve 60 are aligned to provide a clear passageway (when the valve is open) from the interior of the brine tank to the outside of the car through the drain valve. Valve 60 is of the rotary gate type, a well known construction in which a clear passageway through the valve is provided when the valve is opened. The valve may be opened or closed by rotating the shaft 62 which is coupled to an actuating rod 64. The 'valve 60 is supported, as best shown in Figures 3 and 4, by a channel plate 66 which contains an opening 68 slightly smaller in diameter'than the flange 67 comprising the bottom of the valve 60. The channel plate 66 is bolted to a U- shaped bracket 69 at one end which in turn connects to the underside of the car through a Z-shaped bracket, as best shown in Figure l, and the other end of the channel connects to the center beam 18 of the car through a U- shaped bracket 71.

A drain tube or spout 74 is detachably connected to the bottom of the valve 60 by means of bolts 75 which secure the flange 76 of the spout to flange 67 of the valve, as best shown in Figure 5. The outwardly extending flange 76, which is welded to the upper end of the spout, lies against the horizontal portion of the chan-' nel plate 66. The bolts 75 pass through flange 76, the channel 66 and the valve flange 67. To provide a leaktight seal between the valve flange and the tube flange,

which are spaced by the thickness of the channel support To prevent the spout 74 from dropping to the ground when the bolts 75 are removed, an arm 8 0, having one end- 'v'velded'to the tube'and the other end pivotally mounted on a bracket 66a extending outwardly from the horizontal portion of the channel 66, serves to facilitate swinging the spout outwardly from beneath the valve 60 to'the position shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 3. The arm '80 is fixed to the end of the bracket 66:: by means'of a pin 65.

The valve actuating shaft 64 is rotatably mounted in a hearing or guide 82 fixed to the underside of the car. To pennit actuation of the valve from the top of the car next to the hatches, where the tanks will be serviced, a vertical rod 84, coupled to the end of the shaft 64 through'a crank 83, is mounted'on the end of the car by spaced guides 86. An L-shaped lever 88, pivotally connected to the upper end of the rod 84 as indicated at 90 in Figure 8, is pivotally mounted on a bracket 92 fixed to the top of the car. Latches 94 and 96 serve to lock the lever in the lower position or the upper position (shown in dot and dash lines, Figure 8) so that the valve will remain open or closed, as desired.

From the construction described it will be apparent that this arrangement of elements permits cleaning the header tank and thetubes connecting it to the individual brine tanks with a minimum of labor It is necessary merely to removethe rubber caps 50 held in place by hose clamps at either end of the header tank 40 and the entire length of the tank may be cleared of caked salt, dirt or other debris by pushing a rod therethrough from the inside of the car. Each of the tubes 35, 36, 37 and 38 may be-c onveniently cleaned by rodding from the top through'the resp'ective brine tanks to which the tubes connect. Because the'valve'60 is aligned with'the'tube 36, it is poshibleto rod the tube'fid, the tubehd, which connects the header tank to the-valvegarid the valve all at the same time. Furthermore, rodding' may be conveniently carried out either from the top or' from the bottom. It isnecessary only to remove the bolts 75 so that the spout 74 can be swung outof the way and to open the valve 60 prior to rodding By employing flexible hoses for the drain tubes, rodding is 'furthe'rfacilitated because some flexing of the tubes is permitted which greatly aids in dislodging compacted salt or debris. Flexible connections are also advantageous from the standpoint of installation and removalof tanks since some misalignment can be tolerated without alfecting the functionof the system.

The assembly described is intended to be merely illustrious of my invention, for various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which istdefined in the appended claims.

What I-claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patenttof the'United'States isz- 7 1. In a brine tank system for refrigerating railroad cars, a plurality of brine tanks each havinga drain tube connecting to a common header tank, said header "tank having openings at either end sealed with removable closures, a drain conduit for said header tank aligned withone of said tubes and a valve connected to said drain conduit. h v

2. In a brine tank system for refrigerating railroad cars, a plurality ofbrine tanks each having adrain tube connecting to a common header tank, said header tank having openings at either end sealed with removable closures, a drain conduit for said header tank extending through the floor of said railroad car and aligned with one of said tubes and a valve connected to said drain conduit.

3. The tank system of claim 2 in which said drain tubes are flexible hoses, detachably connected to the brine and header tank's.

4. In a brine tank system for refrigerating railroad cars, a plurality of brine tanks each having a drain tube connecting to a common header tank, said header tank having openings at ei-ther'end sealed with removable closures, a drain conduit for said header tank extending through the floor of said railroad car aligned with one of said tubes and a valve connected to said drain conduit, and an angular spout connected to said valve and adapted to divert the flow from the tanks to the rear of the car. i 5. In a brine tank system for refrigerating railroad cars, a plurality of brine tanks each having a drain tube connecting to a common header tank, said header tank having openings at either end sealed with removable closures, a drain conduit for said header tank extending through the floor of said railroad car aligned with one of said tubes and a valve connected to said drain conduit, and an angular spout detachably connected to said valve and pivotable about a stationary point to permit swinging the spout out from under said valve when detached therefrom.

6. In a brine tank system for refrigerating railroad cars, a plurality of brine tanks each having a drain tube con'necting'to a common header tank, said header tank terminating at either end in a short tubular portion angularly disposed with respect to the axis of said header tank tofacilitate rodding from the front, removable caps for said tubular portions anda valved drain conduit for said header tanki' l 7.,In abrine tank system for refrigerating railroad cars, a" plurality of brine tanks each having a drain tube -connecting as a dentition header tank, said header tank terminating at either end in a short tubularportion angularly disposed wan respect to the axis of said header tank to facilitate rodding from the front, removable caps for said tubular portions, a fdraiii conduit for said header tank extending throughthdfloor of'said railroad car and aligned with one of said tli bes, a nd a'rotary gate valve connected to"said"drainconduit.

8. In a brine tank system for refrigerating railroad cars, a plurality of brine tanks each having a flexible hose connecting the "common header tank, said header tank terminating at either end in a short tubular portion angularly disposed with respect to the axis of said header tank to facilitate roddinig; removable" r'ubber caps for said tubular portions, afiexible drain conduit for said header tank exte'ndingthrough'theflobr of said railroad car and aligned with one of said hoses, a rotary gate valve detachably connected to said 'drain'fcoriduit and an angular spout deta'cha'bly connebtedtdsaid valve and pivotable about a stationary pointto permit swinging the spout out from under said valvewhen'detached therefrom.

References C ited the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,943,979 Lundvall .Jan. 16, i934 2,068,401 Dibnlg olda Jan. 19, 1937 2,441,292 Schroeder May v11, 1948 2,502,698 Blanning ....Q. Apr. 4, 1950 

